Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.

Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there.

After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive - and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.

Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first.

But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills - and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit - he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?"

Listening Length: 10 hours and 53 minutes

What a surprising, gripping read!! Recommending The Martian audio version to all my friends!

What I liked: The first thing I need to make clear is although I do occasionally read Sci-Fi, it usually has a different twist on it than The Martian does. There might be hints of romance or a couple or something. Certainly I wouldn't expect to read a book with any kind of Math and like it. Well, I loved The Martian and the Math was not a deal breaker.

The Martian is a fairly short audio book but I felt like I was on Mars forever with all the action Mr. Weir packed into his book. Something was happening all the time and most of it was NOT GOOD! I couldn't understand how the book started off with supposedly the main character, Mark Watney, being killed on Mars. Well, yeah, he wasn't dead but he was alone on Mars with limited supplies and no way to tell anyone he was alive. Most people would give up, don't you think? I mean, who wants to die of starvation when to all intents and purposes, you're already dead?

While Watney is the main character, there is a cast around him that completely kept my interest. Their various personalities and different areas of expertise grabbed me and wouldn't let me go. Everyone's ingenuity to find a way to keep Mark alive until he could be rescued astounded me. It makes me wonder, would the U. S. or any country for that matter go the extra mile and risk more lives to save just one?

I have to admit, I'm a bit of a space nut. I watch any space launches and am totally fascinated by the Space X/Dragon program. But to listen to a book about space wasn't at the top of my list. I was literally badgered into listening to The Martian by Marcela (BookaholicCat) and Carmel and Melanie (Rabid Reads) and I trusted them enough to give it a try. I probably broke a record for me in how fast I listened to this book. I couldn't stop!

And this is the kicker....The Martian is an excellent book (movie version coming in November 2015, starring Matt Damon) but it is made into an outstanding book by the narrator, R. C. Bray. I actually think I would listen to most anything he narrates now just based on his performance in The Martian. I have a handful of narrators with 5 Star ratings and Mr Bray has joined that list.

What I didn't like: Yeah, I'm thinking very hard here and cannot find ONE thing I didn't like. Well, except it did give me a few nightmares thinking of the scenario where this situation might actually happen.

Dolly

Isn't this book great? I loved it too. I'm so glad that BookaholicCat picked it up and then insisted that we all listen. I never would've picked it up on my own. I'm going to make DH listen on our vacation drive later this summer.

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Dolly

5/20/2015 12:11:16 am

It's funny because I recommended this book to my brother but he had already listened to it. I think my oldest son just finished up last night but he read it as he's a Math geek. LOL

I read the sample on Amazon and just thought it's ok. Read your and Kimbas review and Carmel's awhile back. Maybe I will get the audio. Great review!

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Dolly

5/20/2015 10:19:57 pm

Thanks Lorna. You HAVE to do this one on audio!! I don't know if I could have enjoyed it as much with this particular narrator. I think my eyes would have crossed looking at all the Math related stuff. LOL